JoanneIreland

Hi Steph, yes I edited the pictures before uploading to Vistaprint. Did this using Picnik (www.picnik.com) ..... Love love love that site! So you can make any photo B&W and then just zoom in and change certain pieces back to color. This is just one of many photo editing tricks you can do on Picnik. I signed up for a yearly account, think it was $25, but you can sign up for just a month, or you can get a basic account for free. Not sure if you get this feature with the free basic account though. Good luck!

Yes, I registered with Vistaprint and I get emails almost every day, so I just wait for the best ones and place multiple orders at the same time. To create the STD's I got 100 free postcards, 10 free large magnets per order (got 70 total), free uploads (if you upload your own images you have to pay, I think it's usually $4.99 per image), and 140 return address labels all for free. I've ordered a ton of other stuff from them too besides the STD's, including totes to use as OOT bags, T-shirts, pens, notebooks, sticky pads, welcome cards, etc ...........

We are sending our guests a Save The Date postcard with detailed wedding information on the back, along with a reminder STD magnet they can keep on their fridge, all courtesy of Vistaprint for free! The idea for the 3 pictures to display the date was gotten from another bride on this website (jmb0902/joann – thank you so much for the fab idea!) This forum is awesome and I would be lost without it. After a snow storm we just took our camera and tripod to a local park and bought an empty large photo frame with us and afterwards added in the dates. This is the Magnet : We then enclosed a postcard, this is the front : And this is the back of the postcard : We purchased pink metalic A2 envelopes from www.paperandmore.com ($11.99 for 50). We also ordered return address labels from www.vistaprint.com (140 for free) that matched the STD’s. Completed STD’s : Not bad for having to pay just for envelopes and involving very little time and effort! Attached is the template we used for the magnet. Save The Date Magnet Template.pptx

Thank you ladies for all of your support and updates on your progress! I finished our wedding website at last!! So glad I took the time and effort to do it, I think our guests will appreciate it. Also I made our Save The Dates via Vistaprint and mailed them out yesterday! Am so relieved to have two big things done at last! These are the magnets we sent out : I also included a similar Postcard that had more details written on the back and enclosed them in fab metalic pink envelopes and ordered wedding stamps from the post office for the ones being mailed in the US : I'm living in Boston now, and last week my family flew over from Ireland and we chose the bridesmaids dress, and also went to NYC wedding dress shopping. I've seen a few I really like but haven't been able to commit yet. It was a bummer that I didn't decide last week while I had my mum and sister here, so now I'll have to decide by myself. Going to go to a few more stores over the next few weeks and then make a commitment as I know I'll be cutting it close otherwise. For the invitations I know I want to do the boarding passes and have already created my template and printed out one test one and it looks great. Now it's just a matter of making them all, but am not too rushed on that as the STD's are only in the mail since yesterday! I'm been saving templates from all over this forum so I have plenty of DIY projects to keep me busy over the coming months!! I also booked Adrian Guerra to do my hair and makeup on the day. Just couldn't resist after all the rave reviews I have read about him, and he has been such a gem to deal with over emails. Love him already! I am working with a travel agent in Massachusetts who is going to help our guests in US, Ireland and UK. She is married to an Irish man so has plenty of experience with Ireland and travel arrangements there too, so that helps! The direct flights from Boston to Cancun aren't released yet so I think we have to wait about another 3-4 weeks before we can book. I do not want to risk a layover, figure I have less chance of missing luggage with one direct flight!! Because of my new addiction to Vistaprint, The Dollar Store and The Christmas Tree Shops, I have the OOT bags practically done as well. Just need to wait to closer to the time to get final numbers so I know if I need to order more than I have to. I actually gave my sister a full suitcase of wedding stuff when she flew back to Ireland at the weekend and she will bring that to Mexico with her in November, LOL! These are our OOT bags for our guests : Inside I have matching T-shirts, notebooks, sticky notepads, pens, mousepad, key chains, pashmena, sunglasses, beach ball, first aid kits, sunglasses, personalized lip balm, candle, photosharing card, do not disturb signs, mints, gum, welcome cards, personalized do not disturb signs, and will add some snacks. For our wedding party and parents we are doing different bags, pink for the girls and navy for the boys which I ordered from Ebay. Here is a sample for our flowergirl : Next on my list is to book my photographer so am starting on that this week. That's about all my updates for now!! Good luck to everyone and happy planning!!

Congrats and thanks for your review! Can't wait to see your photos, hope you get them soon!!

Joanne's Blue Star Fish ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ lisadias April 22nd - April 30th mrsrice11 June 11th - ?? Lisa, I have your address from your PM so I'll send you the starfish to get this passing started! I'm going to send a little notebook with it so you can leave a note to future brides who uses it!

Bee86 - beautiful bridesmaid dress! Love it!

****** NEW ********** Hello Ladies, I have a BLUE starfish that I would love to start passing. It can be your something blue and something borrowed! Let me know if you would like to borrow. Send me your dates!

Bacchetta2Be, you are the day after me!! Who are you using for a photographer? I am weighing up using someone local or flying one in.

Janet your dress is grogeous! U can't go wrong in that!! What designer is it?

Virginia those look awesome, great job!

Thanks Brandy and CBrewster!

Has anyone found ziplock bags for the DIY First Aid Kits that are clear and has no writing on the outside? Also, what is the best recommended size for these bags, quart?? Thanks!

Hi Schmieding .... I was in the same boat as you, loved Azul Sensatori as well as the Barcelo and was torn between the two. There were a lot of reasons for going with the Barcelo but main reason was cost, not only to me and fiance, but for our guests also. Overall Azul is much more expensive, but on top of that the 5 hotels within the Barcelo resort gave our guests more choice on budget. We felt there were people that wanted to go but could not afford Azul. Hope that helps! Good luck and I'm sure you'll be happy with whatever you choose!

Welcome Michelle! Your day is coming up pretty quick now! Hope all the planning is going well!

I just got the 2011 Spa Price List for the Barcelo Maya. Attaching the Word Document now. Zoom in about 200% and you should see it very clearly. I think guests would like this info in advance ..... Barcelo Spa Price List.doc

Thank you so much! Can you tell me where you got the envelopes for the boarding pass?

Hi, I'm boggled and cross eyed for reading so many posts today, this website is so fab! I have two questions I am hoping you can answer : 1) Do you have the websites and/or email addresses to the main vendors you girls have used (landy, monica, etc ....) and 2) I thought I read on here that some of these vendors accept a deposit and then send you pictures and if you are not happy you can cancel. Is that true? Thanks so much and happy planning!

Hello girls! We are getting married at the Barcelo Maya Palace in the Riviera Maya on November 17th, just got the date confirmed, so pretty much have nothing done! Am starting to panic reading updates that you have dresses and invites already! I have my website almost completed, and I am doing STD postcards which I can order now that we confirmed the date. Like another bride here we were originally planning for September but decided adding the stress of prime hurricane season just wasn't worth it, plus November will be a great time to get away to the sun!

Thanks cjb0arder13 for the comments and suggestions, much appreciated. One quick follow up question .... You mentioned there was a choice of chair sashes for free, however do you know if they had matching table runners as well?

Hi girls, I'm a November 2011 Bride also! We are getting married on November 17th at the Barcelo Maya Palace. The countdown is on!

Congratulations Celina!! So delighted that you had a great wedding day. Congrats on becoming a Mrs! Enjoy the rest of your stay and then hurry home safely to give us the full review!!

Thank you so much for all these helpful hints and tips!

Gorgeous! Great job! There are ssssoooo many talented people on here it's making me feel totally useless!

Oh My God, I love it! So unique from anything else I've seen. I think maybe if you added a small hibacus and you'd be all set. It's really fab! BTW, I posted a thread a few days ago asking a question about photoshop (no clue how to use it), do you think you could help me?